Tag: military pay

Trump misleads about military pay raises again

President Donald Trump incorrectly told troops in Iraq on Wednesday that he gave them their first pay raise in more than 10 years — a falsehood he has repeatedly told.

Speaking to troops at Al Asad Air Base during his surprise visit to Iraq, Trump told troops: “You protect us. We are always going to protect you. And you just saw that, ’cause you just got one of the biggest pay raises you’ve ever received. … You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one.”
In fact, military pay has increased every yearfor more than three decades. It was raised 2.4% in 2018 and then 2.6% in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The 2.6% pay raise is the largest in the past 9 years.

[CNN]

Fact-Checkers Bust Trump for False Claims During His Naval Academy Speech

Fact checkers are having a field day with President Donald Trump‘s commencement speech at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday.

The New York Times pointed out that Trump provided alternative facts at least three times, including taking credit for ending the defense sequester, vowing to provide the Navy with “a couple hundred” more ships and falsely claiming the U.S. Navy had not had a pay raise in 10 years.

On the defense sequester, Trump said this: “We have ended the disastrous defense sequester. No money for the military, those days are over.”

The NYT  fact checkers noted that was wrong.

“Technically, Mr. Trump did not repeal the defense sequester, which refers to limits placed on military spending enacted in 2011,” the Times pointed out.  “Congress effectively erased mandated caps in February, but that doesn’t mean that the military received ‘no money’ at all before then.”

Both the NYT and the Associated Press also picked up on Trump’s dubious math in this statement: “We have now the lowest number of ships that we’ve had since World War I, and very soon you’re going to get to 355 beautiful ships. 355. That’s almost a couple of hundred more ships.”

As AP noted, “No it isn’t. The Navy now has 283 ships,” noting it is actually far less than “a couple hundred” beautiful new ships.

Both outlets and CNN’s Jake Tapper also called out Trump’s erroneous claim that the military has not had a pay raise in ten years.

“Going to have new equipment and well-deserved pay raises,” Trump told the Annapolis graduates. “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years. We got you a big pay increase. First time in over 10 years. I fought for you. That was the hardest one to get, but you never had a chance of losing.”

Yet, as AP pointed out, the “U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for the past 10 years.”

The final false claim was also particularly vexing to Tapper, because, as he noted, Trump actually had a lot to brag about if he was just willing to keep his facts straight.

Odder still is POTUS here has a legitimate thing to boast about — 2018 brings the biggest military pay raise (2.4%) in 8 years,” Tapper noted,  before observing that if Trump had told the truth “that would be acknowledging Obama gave a bigger pay raise in 2010.”

[Mediaite]

Trump incorrectly claims military pay hasn’t gone up for 10 years

President Trump on Wednesday inaccurately claimed numerous times that military personnel had not received a pay raise in 10 years, though the Pentagon has enacted raises every year for the past decade.

“We just approved $700 billion for our military so we’re going to be having the best equipment ever and next year $716 billion. … That also includes raises for our military. First time in 10 years,” Trump said while hosting military mothers and spouses at the White House.

Trump was referring to the fiscal 2018 defense spending bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed by Trump earlier this year, that included a 2.4-percent pay increase for troops.

The White House’s version of the fiscal year 2019 NDAA, which would set military policy for the coming year, includes a 2.6 percent pay raise as part of a total $716 billion for national defense.

The increase is supported by the House.

A 2.6-percent jump would be the highest increase in nine years, though military personnel have received at least a 1-percent pay raise every year for the past decade, according to Defense Department figures.

“Today I’m hear to tell you that my administration is totally committed to every family that serves in the United States armed forces. That is what earlier this year I was proud to sign that big pay raise that I’ve already spoken about,” Trump continued.

“And I am proud of it and I guess [there will] be others too. Would you like one sooner, or do you want to wait another 10 years?” he added.

Trump hosted the military mothers and spouses as part of a signing ceremony for an executive order meant to increase employment opportunities for military spouses, with the goal of bettering military recruitment.

“By taking this action today, we are leading by example and encouraging American businesses across the country to expand job opportunities for our intelligent … and highly valuable military spouses,” Trump said.

The order directs government agencies to make a combined effort to hire the spouses, as well as make them aware of job opportunities. Under current law, such individuals are already given preference for some federal positions, but the policies are not always followed.

[The Hill]